


Permanent

by JamtheDingus



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Galra Hunk (Voltron), Introspection, Kinda, M/M, keith is a furry, only a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 10:44:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12579972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamtheDingus/pseuds/JamtheDingus
Summary: A birthday fic for @narwhalsarefalling on tumblr!---Keith could remember vividly what had happened when Hunk had transformed into a Galra. They were getting ready for bed. Keith was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, and Hunk was changing into his Altean-brand pajamas when he shrieked from the bedroom. Keith had nearly choked on his toothbrush in his rush to see what had happened, to fight off a hidden assassin in the shadows— hell, even to kill whatever space bugs Hunk seemed deathly afraid of finding in the forgotten corners of the castle.Instead, he saw Hunk tangled in his nightshirt, with a quickly spreading purple clawing across his belly and up to his chest until it disappeared behind the fabric caught on his shoulders.Hunk had whirled around, and one of his eyes was midway through its transformation from beautiful brown to frightened yellow. “Keith.”And he had sounded soterrified.





	Permanent

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FallingNarwhals](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallingNarwhals/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY REY I HOPE U LIKE THIS AND I HOPE THIS DOESNT EXPOSE ME AS THE FURRY FUCK I AM

Keith heaved a heavy yawn, and a pair of fuzzy ears tickled under his nose. He snuffed, laying his hand atop Hunk’s head as he blinked the remaining wisps of sleep from his eyes. **  
**

The bed was hard under his legs and he grumbled under his breath— until he remembered that the two of them were snuggled up in the Red Lion, instead of in a comfortable, soft bed.

A thin, thermal blanket was cuddled around them, thankfully big enough to fit both at the same time. Hunk was curled around his side, out like a light and snoring like a lawnmower. His face was firmly pressed in the crook of Keith’s neck, and he wasn’t sure if it was slobber or sweat that he was feeling soak into his undersuit.

Keith squinted his eyes in the dark, faintly making out the messages that popped up on Red’s dashboard. She was quiet in the back of his mind, probably just as tired as Hunk and Keith were. They’d been in empty space for nearly two days, but they couldn’t come back until they found a cure for Hunk.

Keith passed his hand across Hunk’s ears again. The fuzzy ones atop his head, that were large and hung so heavy that they swooped low enough to brush across his shoulders if he wanted to.

None of them could figure out how, but…  _something_ had happened, and Hunk had been injected with druid magic. And then he transformed into this.

Purple and Galra and more than a little freaked out.

A mission was promptly sorted to find out all they could about what had happened, and they were heading towards an old Galra outpost to meet up with the Blade of Marmora, to figure out what had happened to Hunk. If he could actually be  _cured_.

Keith sighed heavily, knocking his head back against the wall. It hurt more than he’d expected, and his helmet rolled against his knee as if chiding him for not wearing it at all times.

On the surface, he was confused as to why it was  _him_ that Hunk chose to go with him on such an important mission to him personally, but on another level— deeper than his mind allowed him to consciously think about— he knew it was because of the quiet moments they shared like this. The trust they shared may not be obvious to most but was still a tangible dependence between the two paladins.

Keith slid from beneath Hunk, allowing him to flop onto his side against the floor. The blanket was tucked around his shoulders, flush against his neck, and Keith allowed himself to pause and drift his fingers to untangle tufts of fur from Hunk’s cheeks.

Red began to prod insistently at the back of his mind, breaking him out of his lovesick revelry, and he pulled back with only a little bit of regret.

He had a job to do.

—————

Keith could remember vividly what had happened when Hunk had transformed into a Galra. They were getting ready for bed. Keith was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, and Hunk was changing into his Altean-brand pajamas when he shrieked from the bedroom. Keith had nearly choked on his toothbrush in his rush to see what had happened, to fight off a hidden assassin in the shadows— hell, even to kill whatever space bugs Hunk seemed deathly afraid of finding in the forgotten corners of the castle.

Instead, he saw Hunk tangled in his nightshirt, with a quickly spreading purple clawing across his belly and up to his chest until it disappeared behind the fabric caught on his shoulders.

Hunk had whirled around, and one of his eyes was midway through its transformation from beautiful brown to frightened yellow. “ _Keith_.”

And he had sounded so  _terrified_.

Keith leaned back in his seat, running his hands along the smooth armrests. Red purred, as if she were curled up in his lap and receiving the petting physically instead of mentally.

That expression burned itself in his retinas, and his heart still stopped when he closed his eyes and saw it again.

Keith glanced back over his shoulder, but Hunk was still a comfortably crumpled pile of thermal fabric and paladin underarmor.

They were a few minutes away from the meetup point, maybe ten or twenty given that he had to  _find_ the base once they arrived in its general vicinity. But that was just ten or twenty minutes of him sitting there with a restless feeling in his chest and Hunk’s shallow breathing in the background.

That last part wasn’t worrying at all, since Hunk had explained to him (after Keith had frantically shaken him awake in the middle of a night once, terrified that he was about to keel over in his sleep) that he had mild sleep apnea. He’d been so tired that he’d stumbled over his words so much he had to restart over and over again, rubbing at his eye with the back of his hand. He’d apologized for scaring Keith and pressed a sloppy, wet kiss against his forehead before he collapsed back on the bed, on his side this time, and passed out again.

Keith vaguely remembered cuddling up to him not a few minutes after, burying his face against Hunk’s chest and holding him tight. But that honestly could have been any other night since then, he’d done it so much. He liked the way Hunk felt in his hold: soft and firm and  _real_ — and all for him.

Keith always did feel a little selfish being able to steal Hunk’s hugs all for his own in the middle of the night, away from prying eyes and nosy Lances, but he wouldn’t give them up for the world. And a little fur and big, floppy ears wouldn’t make him give them up, either. Even if they became a permanent fixture to Hunk’s person.

—————

The night before their excursion, after Hunk had calmed down to where he was no longer outwardly freaking out but rather in shock, the two of them sat in uncomfortable silence in their shared room. It was actually  _Keith’s_ room, but Hunk had migrated there after they started… ‘dating’? (They’d never put a label on it, now that Keith was thinking about it. Those were always his best relationships.)

Hunk was furled up on the opposite end, tense and shying away from Keith every time he so much as twitched in his direction.

He wasn’t wearing his pajama top, because the fabric caught on every single hair in its path, but he’d squeezed into the bottoms for decency’s sake.

And Keith wasn’t the best at words but… being the ‘resident Galra’ that he was, he couldn’t just  _let_ his… ‘significant other’ (and, more than that: his friend) sit there and feel bad about himself, right?

So, he slid closer, crowding into Hunk’s space, and leaned against his shoulder. He’d patted along Hunk’s leg until he found clawed fingers that tried to hide themselves between his thighs, and he tangled them together with his.

“We’re gonna get you fixed up, Hunk.” He promised.

Hunk sniffed wetly at that, and a startled laugh nearly jarred Keith from his shoulder. When Keith glanced up, though, he couldn’t see any tears. He wasn’t sure if that was because they’d gotten soaked into the floor or not, but Hunk was probably crying on the inside nonetheless.

“It’s scary, Keith.” He had admitted. Then, softer, “I’m sorry for poking fun. When we found out you were Galra.”

Keith rolled his eyes before he could stop himself. “It’s  _so_ unfair that you turned purple before I did.” He teased, pulling Hunk close and plummeting backwards against the mattress, pulling him down with him.

Hunk had smiled, then. Shiny, sharp teeth and all, and Keith knew he did  _something_ right, atleast.

—————

Hunk woke up five minutes later, and had crawled over to Keith to offer him a water pouch. Keith had been so deep in thought that Hunk had to poke him in the mouth with the straw, as if he were a baby.

He definitely did  _not_ pout at the treatment.

“Are we almost there?” Hunk asked around his drink, and he sounded as tired as he looked.

“Almost.”

Hunk huffed through his nose, and began to stretch knots out of his back. “They really need to add side-seats to these Lions.”

“‘They’.” Keith repeated, and the two snorted out a laugh. Who knows? Maybe with enough fiddling with his bayard, Red would sprout an entire four-seater in her cockpit.

They fell in a comfortable silence, with Hunk prodding around Red’s cockpit and Keith focusing on the destination. He  _needed_ to focus or he’d probably go insane just waiting.

They arrived soon, though. In between one star system and the next, in a forgotten part of space that surely would have been full of dust bunnies if dust bunnies could survive in space.

“How are you doing?” Keith asked, out of the blue.

Hunk looked startled. “Uh… good, how are you?”

They stared at one another, confusion swirling around the two until Keith shook his head. “No, I mean… How are you holding up?” An amused smile grew across his lips, and Hunk smacked himself on the forehead.

“Oh— I was wondering why you… nevermind. I’m… good.” He finished lamely.

Keith heaved a fond sigh and turned back to focus on landing Red on the fragile meteor. It’s outer shell was deteriorated, and he had to be careful unless he wanted them to fall straight through and destroy whatever evidence they’d find on the abandoned outpost.

“We’re gonna get you through this, big guy.” Keith said, and Hunk took a step closer behind his seat. “No matter what.”

Hunk laughed humorlessly. “You make it sound like we’ll never come back from this mission.” He clutched his stomach with one hand, as if that thought had soured his gut. “I’m just scared of how my moms will react if I have to go back like this.”

Keith chanced looked at him, and Hunk looked downright miserable. And Keith was only just now realizing that the reason why he looked so different wasn’t because of the purple, but because he’d forgone his signature headband. It was such an integral part of his look, but Keith could figure why he didn’t feel up to wearing it.

Red landed without a hitch, and Keith turned to face him fully. “Your moms love you, Hunk. They’ll just be happy that you came back safe and sound.”

“I think coming back with fur means I’m not exactly ‘sound’.” Hunk said, but a smile played at his lips. “But I guess you’re right.”

The two began to dress in their armor as Keith ran the right protocols and hacked into the right systems in order to get in touch with the small band of Marmora agents Kolivan had scrounged up for them on such short notice.

Hunk had trouble getting his ears in the helmet again, and Keith had to sit him down to tie them back atop his head with the headband he had stuffed in a corner of the ship. It was crumbled and wrinkled, but the material was still as soft as ever as Keith ran his thumb across the stitches. He tied up the floppy ears comfortably, and even pressed a kiss against the crown of Hunk’s head before he helped him fit the helmet on over them.

They both may have flushed a bit red at that.

Red opened her mouth and let down the ramp with a faint purr in the back of his mind; words of encouragement to his mission and a promise to cut through the entire base to get to him, if need be. As she always did.

He offered his hand to help Hunk down the ramp completely, but mostly just to hold his hand. He’d promised he was going to fix this, and that’s what they were there to do. If that meant that they came up with nothing on their excursion, he’d still fight tooth and nail to make Hunk not miserable anymore. Whatever it takes.

Hunk smiled at him, nervous and bright all at once, and Keith nudged him with his elbow as they walked towards the meetup. He’d never brought it up before, but he loved Hunk. Maybe after this was all over, he’d have to say it with words.

“Hey, so… does this make me a furry?” Hunk asked, and Keith almost pulled off his helmet to pinch the bridge of his nose. Whatever it takes.

“Or does that make  _you_ the furry, for kissing me and stuff?”

Keith prayed that they found a cure soon.

**Author's Note:**

> yeet
> 
> check out rey's blog on tumbly right [HERE](https://narwhalsarefalling.tumblr.com) and wish them a happy birth


End file.
